NBA Opening Night 2019: Lakers vs. Clippers TV Channel, Live Stream and Latest Odds
All eyes will be on Los Angeles on Tuesday night, as the Clippers take on the Lakers in the first game of a season both teams hope will signal the beginning of a new era.
Reasons for optimism abound on both sides of the divide in the City of Angels, with the two franchises pulling off arguably the biggest coups in a summer heralded by statement signings.
The Lakers' lengthy pursuit of Anthony Davis ended with the six-time All-Star moving to Hollywood to join forces with LeBron James.
The latter's arrival in Los Angeles last summer was expected to be the moment the Lakers revived past glories, but injuries and internal discord saw the purple and yellow miss the playoffs for the sixth season in a row.
Davis' arrival will not solve every issue, as the Lakers remain somewhat unbalanced—Rajon Rondo is arguably the second-best ball handler among Los Angeles perimeter player—and have sacrificed most of their young core in the Davis trade.
What Davis' arrival will give the Lakers, however, is a bonafide superstar to support James. Last season, Los Angeles was firmly in contention for the playoffs until LeBron suffered a groin injury on Christmas Day in a game against the Golden State Warriors.
With Davis alongside him, LeBron will no longer have to carry the Lakers entirely on his shoulders and will have both a reliable point scorer and an elite defender to rely on.
The Lakers have also hit the reset button off the court, with president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and head coach Luke Walton both gone within a matter of days in April.
Frank Vogel replaced the latter and with the Western Conference in a state of flux, he has the chance to catapult the Lakers back among title favorites.
Anything less than a deep run in the postseason, however, will be considered failure.
According to BetOnline, along with the Lakers the Clippers are 9/2 joint-favorite to win the NBA title, after a summer that might come to be regarded as a pivotal moment for the league's short-term future.
Landing reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard just a month after he guided the Toronto Raptors to their maiden NBA title was a major coup, but pairing him with Paul George exceeded expectations of even the most optimistic of Clippers fan.
Admittedly, George will be out until at least November as he continues to recover from a shoulder surgery, but the prospect of him playing alongside Leonard is mouthwatering.
During his solitary season in Toronto, Leonard was dominant at both ends of the court, at times almost ludicrously so. It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest he may well be the best player in the NBA at the moment and at 28 years of age he's in the peak of his career.
Like the Lakers, the Clippers are short of a second prime ball-handling option but in Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams have all the ingredients to build a more than adequate supporting cast to their two stars.
In six seasons with the Clippers, Doc Rivers has taken his team to the playoffs five times but has never made it past the Conference Semifinals.
This may be the season the trend changes and Rivers has a shot at adding another title to the one he won in 2008 while in charge of the Boston Celtics.
Here's everything you need to know about the Lakers' first game of the season.
When and where is the game?
The Clippers and the Lakers face each other at Staples Center in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, October 22.
Tip off is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.
TV channel
The season opener will be broadcast live on TNT.
Live stream
A live stream will be available via TNT's digital platforms as well as via fuboTV.
Odds
According to Oddschecker, the Lakers are 2.5-point favorite and are 91/100 to cover the spread, while the Clippers are 6/5 underdogs.
The over/under bar for total points scored is set at 215.
